1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a system for detecting biomarkers and a method thereof, particularly a microfluidic system for processing a biosample for the detection of a biomarker, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an ordinary blood test for detecting biomarkers (e.g., exosome, protein, miRNA, hemoglobin, and small molecules) involves complicated procedures to process a raw biosample, such as a whole blood sample. Since the preliminary procedures (e.g. centrifugation, lysis, concentration, and dilution) for processing a biosample are generally not available using a conventional microfluidic chip, additional procedures have to be performed in a laboratory prior to injecting the biosample into the microfluidic system. However, such additional procedures incur additional cost and time, which may also limit the types of detectable biomarkers. For example, some biomarkers, such as intracellular components, can be detected only if the cells are broken down by preliminary processes, such as lysis, to release target biomarkers.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional microfluidic chip including a processing zone 11, a mixing zone 12, a detection zone 16 and an absorbent zone 6 is usually designed for the detection of a single biomarker of a biosample 3. In order to detect multiple biomarkers using a microfluidic chip, different kits corresponding to different biomarkers for processing a biosample are required. Besides, some common processing procedures, such as filtering, have to be performed repeatedly in different kits, which result in an unnecessary waste and cause a crucial problem of using a scarce sample.
To overcome the technical problems mentioned above, there is a need to provide a new microfluidic system to simplify operating procedures and to reduce unnecessary waste.